None.
Not applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the combination of back supports and lumbar supports for seats.
2. Related Art
The design and assembly of seats, particularly automobile seats, frequently involves incorporation of back plates or lumbar supports. Back plates can provide structural support and can provide an anchor for fixation of various components. In automobiles, seat back plates also augment crashworthiness.
Modern seat design also commonly includes lumbar support for the comfort of the person sitting in the seat. In automobile seat design, it is becoming more common for seats to incorporate a variety of components for passenger comfort, including heating and cooling ducts and the like. This promulgation of components within the confines of a seat creates a need for more compact components. Saving space is also served by reducing the number of brackets and fixation devices needed to assemble various components together. An example of a particularly compact lumbar support is found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/798,657, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Economy, efficiency and speed of assembly are always a concern in manufacturing industries, particularly the automobile industry. There is a constant need for reducing costs of component assembly and packaging for shipments of those components between manufacturers and assemblers of them. To the extent that various components of back plates and lumbar supports are manufactured separately, and then shipped to an assembler for fixation of new components with external, unintegrated fixation devices, and then shipped forward for further assembly into seats and then automobiles, efficiency and economy of assembly have not been maximized in the prior art.
There is a need in seat assembly procedures to increase the economy and efficiency of component assembly and shipping. There is a further need in seat design for strong, economical, compact components. There is a particular need for a strong, economical combination of a lumbar support with a back plate.
The invention is a unitized back plate and lumbar support. A back plate and lumbar support housing are molded together out of a single piece of plastic. The housing is optimally configured to be a concave component, defining a channel into which a lumbar support paddle may be retracted, and out of which the paddle may be extended in order to support a seat occupant""s lumbar spine. The travel of the lumbar support paddle may be mediated by a motor or a mechanical means.
The present invention makes the combination of components within a seat more compact, especially with regard to eliminating the bulk and number of fixation devices required. Component manufacture, assembly, packaging, shipping and sales are more economical and efficient. It uses a relatively small number of moving parts which are simple in design and movement. The present invention streamlines the manufacture of the device and of seats incorporating the device, lowers production costs and increases durability and the useable life of the device and seats incorporating it. The present invention is able to tolerate excessive or abusive loads, as well as improve crash worthiness.
More than one support device may be incorporated in a single seat for a plurality of supports, including but not limited to lumbar support or double lumbar support.
Further features and advantages of the present invention, as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the present invention, are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.